Furniture is formed in a variety of manners and using a variety of components. However, furniture is typically assembled in a fixed manner, rendering it difficult or impossible to assemble or disassemble. This can make furniture components, such as the frame, very difficult to replace if they become worn or damaged, because replacing these components can require that the furniture in question be partially or completely disassembled in order for the component to be accessed. This may generally cause furniture repairs to be more onerous and expensive, and, if sufficiently so, may lead to excess waste and poorer outcomes for consumers; for example, consumers may find it necessary to throw out a generally serviceable piece of furniture that they would prefer to keep merely because one difficult-to-replace component is broken.
The use of irreversible couplings, such as nails, screw, staples, or adhesives, may also restrict the ability of users to move their furniture around within the home or transport it from place to place. Items of furniture, such as tables, benches, and sofas, are often very heavy, bulky, and generally difficult to transport without the assistance of a number of persons or a skilled moving team. Further, select components of many common furniture designs may be more sensitive to damage. For example, the glass in a glass-topped coffee table may be readily etched or broken, and may require more protection or a different manner of protection than the remainder of the coffee table may need; alternatively, the legs of that same coffee table may be bent or even broken if struck on the side with sufficient force, which may be a greater risk if the table must be transported with legs fully extended.
Further, the use of irreversible couplings can further prohibit the manipulation of furniture. Irreversible couplings may be difficult or impossible to adjust once set in place, depending on the nature of the irreversible coupling (for example, a screw versus an adhesive). This may limit the extent to which users may customize their own furniture to their needs, body types, etc., which may detract from the user experience. An inability for end users to readily customize furniture may also require retailers and distributors to allocate more warehousing and/or showroom space to pre-customized models and may ensure that end users have difficulty finding furniture suited to their needs, in both cases increasing inefficiency.